how excellent! I love the idea of bringing the culinary richness of India to our herbal blends ... sou;nds like you're the man to explore this!

Yeah - a plethora of leaf & seed possibilities. Funugreek leaves (kasoori methi) or seeds, black, green and white cardamom (menthol-like), saffron, curry leaves, Tej patta (indian "bay" leaves from the cinnamon tree), real cinnamon (not the cassia bark we call cinnamon), cloves, poppyseed, turmeric, cumin, coriander, asafoetida (balls of stinky gummy plant resin) and many many more...

I wonder if any others are psychoactive and/or MAOI. Must research!

Spice + spice= spiiiiicy!!

JBArk

I júst found out that the herb sold as stimulant and mild hallucinogen under the nama 'galangal' in dutch smartshops is the same herb used in indonesian and thai food as 'galanga'.

Alpinia galanga, also known as galangal is a herb often used in the indonesian and thai kitchen. It is said to be mildly hallucinogenic in very large amounts and a nootropic and stimulant in amounts, slightly larger than normally used in the kitchen.
It is related to ginger and has a taste that is somewhat simmilar to dried ginger as well.
I've no experience with it's use as stimulant or hallucinogenic, but i use it sometimes when cooking.

It's sold on the web by some companies that also sell mimosa and such, but in asian shops where it's sold for in the kitchen it's much cheaper.

There are two types of galangal - the ordinary one you described which is readily available in any city (Alpinia galangal), and the "lesser galangal" (Alpinia officinarum), which is a little harder to find. I don't know which one would be psychoactive. maybe both. they taste like pine sap!

Loooove thai cuisine. But pales next to Indian .

cheers,
JBArk